Light to Valhalla (48 page)

Damn him
.
Damn him
.
Damn him
.
And just for good measure,
damn him
, again
.

Charley swiped at a traitorous teardrop making it
s way down her cheek, and dropped into one of the many decorative chairs lining the walls
.
She sniffed, battling the defeat and jealousy settling over her with the weight of a thousand stones
.
Her head thudded against the wall as she sank deeper into the black well of despair
.
Her mind spun
, searching for a reasonable explanation for his presence at
Chrisington
House
.
None came to mind
.
Veronica’s sugary concern the day she’d visited Regina came to mind followed by a
nother vision of Alex kissing
her.

Enough of this
.
She snapped to her feet so quickly the blood rushed from her head
.
She could sit here and mope or confront her husband’s obvious infidelity head on
.
She set off for the front hall, the thought gaining momentum with every step
.
Oh, yes, she would catch Alex in the midst of his lies if it was the last thing she did
.
The time had come
for answers,
and there was only one thing left to do
.
God give her strength to see it done.

“Hastings,” she called,
marching toward t
he front
hall
.
“Have the carriage brought round
.
I’m going to town.”

Fiftee
n minutes later, ensconced in the plush interior of the
Coverstone
coach, Charley
nibbled her lower lip, seriously doubting
the wisdom of her little adventure
.
Perhaps she should have hired a hack
.
In this flashy conveyance everyone in London would know she’d
driven to
Chrisington
House
stalking her husband
.
She peeked through the window
,
the command to send the driver home
hovering
i
n her throat, but before she could utter a sound
the
grand steps of Veronica’s home crowned the small rise looming over the carriage.

H
eart hammering,
Charley
debated
whether to flee or
follow through with this fool’s errand
.
What if Alex wasn’t even there?

The answer to her question was short to follow as Alex himself ste
pped from the arched front door
.
Garbed in sleek charcoal gray the perfectly tailored suit clung to his lean, hulking frame in a sensually dangerous manner
.
The black vest and cravat offset his raven hair and contrasted beautifully with his vivid eyes
.
Toned sinew shifted in a primal display beneath the layers of fabric and despite herself—despite all the hurt and anger—Charley knew the sudden urge to tear the layers from his body and smooth her palms along the equally thick layers of muscle
.

She swallowed back the wave of heat and shifted her eyes to his face
.
A markedly pleased—almost smug—expression lined his handsome face
.
He tucked something into the breast pocket of his greatcoat, smoothed his hands down the front
,
and
stepped jauntily down the stairwell
… whistling
.
Whistling!
There could be only one reason for such levity
.
He’d just bedded the angel of the
ton
.

Any inclination of flight drained
.
The world
spun
around her and she gripped the edge of the dark stained windowsill for support
.
When at last the blood returned to her head she
flung
open the carriage door and bolted from the vehicle in a flurr
y petticoats and righteous f
ury
.
“How dare you?
”
She ma
rched toward
the steps
,
oblivious to the curious stares of various bystanders.

“Charley?
”
Alex
stopped
midstride,
bewilderment
flashing over his face
.
“What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?
”
She planted fists on her hips
.
“
Do not turn this around on me
.
The question is w
hat are
you
doing here?”

He
strode stiltedly
down the rest of the steps, glancing warily over his shoulder
.
“Now is not the time, Charley
.
Get in the carriage.
”
He grabbed for her arm.

“No.
”
She jerked away
, circling him cagily
.
“
Now is exactly the time
.
I have caught you red handed leaving the house of your mistress
.
What better time
to admit
this
marriage is an absolute sham?
  We were never supposed to be together, Alex
, let’s just be honest about the fact
.
You don’t want me and you never have.
”
Each word
intensified the ache in her chest
.
“Enough
.
I’m leaving
.
Our marriage is over.”

Alex’s eyes h
ardened; the muscles in his jaw
line working overtime
.
“For the love of Christ, Charley
, do you have no faith in me?
  This isn’t what you think.”

“Oh?” she asked, fluttering her lashes in mock sweetness
.
“Then what, pray tell
,
is this?
”
All pretense of civility dropped from her tone
.
“
I saw you walk out of her house with that satisfied grin
on your face
.
Do—Whoa!
”

Alex slung an arm about
her waist and grasped her under
arm, hauling her bodily back to the carriage
.

She wrestled against him
.
“Unhand me you overbearing brute!”

“Satisfied?” he growled, tossing her up
onto the
coach
bench
.

Charley landed half reclined on the cushioned seat, her legs sprawled apart for balance, her skirts
bunched up
to her knees.

“Drive,” Alex barked to the
whip
,
leaping
into the coach and slamming the door
shut
.
The carriage lurched into motion
nearly unsettling Charley from her precarious perch
.
Fire and ice sparked
her husband’
s
eyes as he crawled
over her
onto the bench in a pr
imitive, pr
edatory fashion
.
“Do I look
satisfied
to you?” he asked, gesturing pointedly to his nether region.

Charley gulped, flicking her gaze to the generous bulge in his trousers
.
She shook her head.

“I haven’t been
satisfied
in quite some time, Charley.
”
Heat f
lared between them as he dra
gged a scalding gaze d
own the column of her throat
.
“Three weeks, four
days, and approximately eight
hours if I’m no
t
mistaken.
”

Her breathing quickened along with her pulse as familiar excitement fanned through her veins
.

Alex
snaked an arm about
her back
, drawing her
up hard against the flat of his chest
.
Hi
s face dropped to the opening at
her throat while the
fingers
of his f
r
ee hand
flicked
open the buttons
.
His breath licked down the front of her bodice and he
kissed
the hollow of cleavage peeking up over her chemise
.
Without conscious thought h
er head lulled back, relishing the sensations coursing over her skin
.
Her fingers wound through
his hair, holding his lips to her, guiding him lower
.

“Charley,” he rasped,
the tenor of his voice changing… evolving… growing more desperate
.
He reached
down to haul her
skirts up over her hips
.
“I
—I
want you
, love
.
Only you.
”

“Please,” she murmured, desperate for his touch
.
His love
.
She reached down, fumbling
with the fastenings of his bree
ches
.
Once free, Alex flattened her against the plush bench,
stripping
away her stockings and
plunging into her without preamble
.

“Oh, yes,”
she cried out, arching upward
.

This
is what she longed for, craved
.
Th
e slick of his body inside hers
.
T
he way he
trembled beneath her fingertips
.
He completed her, made her whole, and the best part was that lying
beneath him,
locked
in his arms
,
she could
feel
his driving need for her
.
“More, Al
ex
.
More,
”
she begged
.

He clasped her tighter, closer, and she arched against him, driving him on, matching his every
frenzied stroke
.
Their loving was har
d and fast, filled with abandon
unlike any other time they’d been together
.
Deliciously out of control, Charley relished in the
forsaken deed
of being ravished in a carriage
, s
he
loved it
…
loved him, and somewhere in the midst of it all she realized that she trusted him
.
Deep within she knew
he was not a murderer or adulterer… that he spoke the truth and loved her as no other
.

Trust
.
Love
.
For the first time she recognized how closely related the two were
.
The realization was freeing
.

She never wanted this moment to end, but she sensed the end coming and there was nothing she could do about it
.
Excitement built
and
squeezed
within her until she could do nothing but cling mindlessly to her husband,
silently striving for the release only he offered her
.

“Charley,” he grunted
.
“
Oh,
Charley…”

Her name on his lips was too much
.
She
shattered
.
Came completely undone
and had no idea what occurred
for a full minute in the aftermath of her
profound release
.
When she
finally recovered,
Alex lay o
n
top of her,
still fully clothed,
breathing hard
.
She smoothed a hand over his hair, twining her fingers through
the close shorn locks
.
Contented she sighed, enjoying the gentle sway of the carriage and the
clip clop
of
horses
’
hooves
on the cobbles
.